Christmas Songs of a Favorite Nature

No questions this week, but since it’s the holiday, I figure you were all just busy. So, I’ll let you off the hook.

This time.

I thought I’d do something different this time.

Instead of listing random facts, in spirit of the holiday, I thought I would share you some of my favorite Christmas songs.

I have nothing against traditional Christmas songs. In fact, they are really great to sing. But, when it comes to preference, I am more inclined to go for nontraditional. That’s just my personality.

Also, you will notice very quickly that most of the songs are from Behold the Lamb of God, Let It Snow Baby… Let it Reindeer, and Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy. If you would like, you can go listen to all of those right now and be done with it.

Or, you can read on and listen to just my favorites and learn why they’re my favorites.

All right, without further ado, my favorite Christmas songs, roughly in order from lesser favorite to most favorite:

Five Golden Rings

From: How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas by Downhere

Favorite Line: Just listen to it.

12 Days of Christmas

From Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer

Favorite Line: What's a partridge?/ What's a pear tree?/ I don't know so please don't ask me/ But I can bet those are terrible gifts to get.

Matthew Begats

From: Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson

Favorite Line: All of them. This one can’t be explained. Listen to it. It’s wonderful.

In Like a Lion (Always Winter)

From: Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer

Favorite Line: When February rolls around I’ll roll my eyes/ Turn a cold shoulder to these even colder skies/ And by the fire my heart if heaves a sigh/ For the green grass waiting on the other side

How Many Kings?

From: How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas by Downhere

Favorite Line: Definitely love the chorus: Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?/ How many lords have abandoned their homes?/ How many greats have become the least for me?/ How many Gods have poured out their hearts/ To romance a world that has torn all apart?/ How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

I Celebrate the Day

From: Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer by Relient K

Favorite Line: And I, I celebrate the day/ That you were born to die/ That I could one day pray for you to save my life.

Labor of Love

From: Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson

Favorite Line: Not so much a favorite line as a favorite concept. This is beautiful because of the idea, the story of the faith of Mary and Joseph. So many times we forget how greatly they were opening to being used by God.

Christmas for Jesus

From: Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy by Jason Gray

Favorite Line: The opening lines: We celebrate Jesus once every year/ And, God’s little boy born into our kingdom here/ Is it Christmas for Jesus when I’m born into his?/ Is my heart the present He put on his list? (even typing it up now, I’m getting all teared up. <3 <3)

Forgiveness is a Miracle (A Song for Joseph)/ Man of Mercy

From: Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy

Favorite Line: But the forgiveness that gave/ Would be given back to you/ Because you carried in your heart/ What she carried in her womb

Be Born in Me

From: Music Inspired by the Story performed by Francesca Battistelli

Favorite Line: All this time we’ve waited for the promise/ All this time you’ve waited for my arm and I am not brave/ I’ll never be/ The only think my heart can offer/ Is a vacancy

If you want to listen to them in succession without having to go through and play them all, here’s them all in a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZY8ggLqeVIDgFulx42yAQ3iUGhqXnt7O

Dirndls and Christmas- Candor Questions

Cindy Sauer asked: Why a dirndl? Does it have to do with your German ancestry? :-D 

Hehe. I have been pondering this question for a week and I’m still not sure how to answer it. But, I’m going to try anyway.

To me, dirndls are the height of femininity. They’re beautiful, and stylish, but also simple and unassuming. They can be made inappropriate (as can anything) but for me, they are the picture of innocence. There’s something about a dirndl that makes me feel beautiful. It makes me feel more girly, more sweet, more innocent, more pure. Not that I’m not those things in other clothes. I just feel it more in a dirndl.

I don’t know that it has anything to do with my ancestry. I didn’t even know they were a German thing when I started liking them. They were just wonderful, and beautiful, and I wanted to make dozens and dozens of them. Then I learned they had a name a history and were like a legitimate thing. Which just made them more awesome.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of ones I’ve made, but if you want to check them out, I do have a Pinterest board devoted to them:

http://www.pinterest.com/jennifersauer73/cc-dirndl-love-3/

And, totally random, but the position of the knot on the dirndl’s apron indicates her marital status: if it’s on the left, the girl is available; on the right, she’s taken, either married or engaged; in the back, she’s a widow (though, this is also how waitresses wear them, so if your waitress has it tied in the back, don’t assume she’s a widow); and in the front, though many nowadays think it’s an indication of confusion on the girl’s part (like she’s not sure if she’s entirely available or not) it traditionally means that the wearer is a virgin.

So, if you go somewhere wearing a dirndl, make sure you wearing your knot in the proper place!

Harpley asked: Have you ever written any Christmas stories?  If not, do you have any favorites to read

According to the search function on my computer, I have used the word “Christmas” in four of my stories. In an unfinished novel called Scripted my main character, David, says, “They haven’t seen each other since Christmas.”

In The Crimson Banner, Jack notes that Melinda reminds him of his little sister on Christmas morning.

In an idea I have, which I’ve only written two or three scenes for, my character, Raven, mentions not really knowing her cousins, even though she sees them every Christmas.

And, lastly, in Where the SOREM Hid the Prize (the third Kit Parker Book), a piece of Kit’s narration is her complaining about something happening over winter break. She notes that she had more important things to do, one of them being planning the perfect Christmas.

So, I guess that would be a no. I’ve never written a Christmas story before. Ever. And, I probably never will. I’m not the kind of person who is really into holidays. I love getting to see my family and eat yummy food and stuff like that, but really, you can do that any day.

Plus, any other day, there’s mail.

There’s no mail on Christmas.

That said, there are a few Christmas stories I do love. O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi is gorgeous and wonderful and I would be totally wrong not to mention it here because it’s a classic and O. Henry’s awesome and more people should read him. (Not just that one story either. If you haven’t read anything other than Gift of the Magi or The Ransom of Red Chief you need to go read something by him right now).

The only other Christmas story I can say that I have read and really loved, and that actually did something to me, is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.

If you have not read this story, you need to. It really opened my eyes to the magic of the Christmas story, through the eyes of those hearing it for the first time. It’s a wonderful book about the power of that story and about how it can change even the wildest of kids. Beautiful, beautiful story.

In fact, I need to find my copy and read it again. It’s not very long at all (I read it out loud to Mom and it only took an hour or two) but so much is packed into that story, that it’s really a great read. I would highly recommend reading it. It’s well worth it.

And, of course, there are Christmas movies. Two, in particular that are watched every year.

Shop Around the Corner, while technically not a “Christmas” movie, comes to its climax on Christmas, so we always watch it then. We have it on VHS, so it’s kind of fuzzy (just some added snow XD) but it’s a classic in our house. It stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan and is the original You’ve Got Mail. But, it has James Stewart in it. So, it’s better <3

The other classic we always watch is White Christmas. I always forget how much I love that movie until we’re watching it. I have seen it more times than I can count (once in theaters! :D) but still it never gets old. Vera-Ellen, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby. What’s not to like? It’s perfect and a must watch every year for us.

And, that’s about as Christmassy as I get.

There you have it! If you have a question you would like to ask, make sure that you send it in for next week! And, in the meantime, I shall hopefully see you all on Monday! :D